“All of us now have the opportunity and responsibility to work together to find a solution to the crisis facing this country, where the government has so dramatically failed to do so,” said Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour party.

Another vote

European Union leaders must now unanimously approve the delay. They will meet at a summit in Brussels on March 21-22.

A “no deal” exit on March 29 is still theoretically possible if May’s deal is voted down for a third time next week and the EU 27 fail to approve an extension.

EU leaders have said they would consider any request from London but that regarding a delay they would need to know for how long – and what for.

May’s plan of action is to hold a third vote on her agreement with Brussels by Wednesday.

If it were approved, she would then ask Brussels to delay the Brexit date until June 30 to allow the treaty to be ratified.

But she warned on Wednesday that if her deal were rejected next week, Brexit could be postponed for much longer.

A delay would also see Britain take part in European Parliament elections in May — bizarrely re-immersing the country in EU politics after Brexit was originally meant to have gone into effect.

Rethinking Brexit

EU Council chief Donald Tusk said Thursday that the bloc could approve a long postponement “if the UK finds it necessary to rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it”.

He reflected Brussels’ long-standing position that a closer relationship is possible if May is willing to compromise – notably by abandoning her opposition to joining an EU customs union.

May’s deal has been blocked chiefly by disagreement over the so-called Irish “backstop” – a measure to keep trade flowing and avoid friction at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney spoke of a possible Brexit postponement of 21 months, saying: “It would give a long reflection period for the British political system to look at how they want to approach Brexit again”.

But other European leaders have warned that London must define a clear purpose to any extension.

No second referendum?

The parliamentary deadlock reflects the deep divisions that remain in Britain three years after the referendum.

Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly failed to approve an amendment calling for a second Brexit referendum.

Only 85 MPs voted in favour and 334 voted against – a disappointment for many of the 48 per cent of Britons who had voted in 2016 to stay in the EU.

The “People’s Vote” campaign said it was premature to push for a referendum now, knowing the motion would be defeated.

Labour supports the idea of a second referendum in principle but asked its MPs to abstain.